


Let’s Try to be Civil(ians)

by maybehesclawstrophobic



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Civilian!ladynoir, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, IDENTITY SHENANIGANS, Ridiculous Disguises, They say it’s not a date but it’s a date, Y’all know what I mean, hand holding, not too much angst tho it’s mainly fluff, pre-reveal, take a shot every time I make the kids blush
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-01
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-05-31 18:14:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19431433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maybehesclawstrophobic/pseuds/maybehesclawstrophobic
Summary: Wanting to spend more time with Ladybug, Chat suggests the two don disguises and hang out as civilians.When the two venture out, big sunglasses and hats galore, they soon realize that pretending this isn’t a date might be just as hard as protecting their identities.





	Let’s Try to be Civil(ians)

He fell in love in a single moment, suspended in time. Looking up at a girl who was standing her ground against a powerful menace that threatened the city she called home. A single stance at the top of the Eiffel Tower, a single reassurance to the people of Paris, a superhero.

She was unstoppable. She held the safety of the city in one hand and his heart in the other. The fierceness in her eyes as she challenged Hawkmoth announced to the whole world that she would never give up and would never back down from a fight.

In every moment after that, he found himself falling all over again. He fell in love in an infinite collection of infinitesimal moments, multiplying over in his mind to enforce the certainty of his affection.

And everytime a heart broke in Paris, everytime the city dissolved into chaos, he couldn’t help but smile softly to himself at the thought of spending time with _her_ , regardless of the context in which that time was spent.

Yet even with this permanent grin on his face, the sorrow of unattainable reciprocation cast a shadow he could never quite escape.

Anytime he hoped to hope, anytime he gazed at the one who held his heart, and he placed everything on the table, Ladybug would give him the same soft look and the same “I’m sorry Chaton . . .”

He couldn’t help the overflow of emotion he held in his heart, yet would always place her comfort and trust above his own selfish desires, so he learned to channel his affections into playful banter rather than obsessive pining.

(He would save the pining for the times he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling as a single tear paved a cold path down his cheek)

The two fell into a comfortable rhythm. Chat would drop a line or confess his undying love with a wink, and Ladybug would roll her eyes and giggle at his antics.

After a while, he stopped asking her out in the hopes she would say yes. He asked her out to remind her that he loved her, and if the response was always “maybe next time . . .” or “you know we can’t . . .,” it didn’t matter. What mattered was her.

He wanted to see her. He wanted to spend time with her. He wanted to drop a line and watch in glee as she giggled, turning away so that he couldn’t catch the blush on her face.

Any time he gained, any moment he could add to his infinite collection, he would cherish over anything and everything else.

Perhaps that’s why he found himself grabbing onto Ladybug’s wrist right as she poised to swing away, both of them three beeps away from shedding the layers between them. Maybe that’s why this “I’m sorry Chaton . . .” had hurt just as much as the others. Maybe that’s what prompted him to say,

“Wait! M’la . . . Ladybug! Please. I know you don’t see me that way. But really, I just want to spend time with you,” he admitted, wringing his hands together. 

“Chat, I’m sorry, but I really have to go,” she urged, two beeps ringing out into the crisp night air.

“What if . . . what if we didn’t _go out_ go out. What if we just went out? As friends?”

The suggestion hung between them as Ladybug paused, considering the option in her mind.

He continued, “we could just hang out and _Chat_ , some _miraculous_ ly needed team bonding if you will.” The idea started to take shape in his mind, his excitement increasing tenfold as the feasibility of his request grew more apparent. “We could meet up as civilians! Wear crazy hats and ridiculous sunglasses like those American tourists! We could . . . “

A final beep from both miraculouses cut him off.

“Chat, we’re out of time! Look, let me consider it, okay? I’ll get back to you the next time we see each other” she offered, before breaking free from his grasp and bounding away.

\---------

Marinette couldn’t believe she was actually doing this. She couldn’t believe she had actually convinced Tikki to even let her do this. Most of all, however, she couldn’t believe how excited she was to let Chat Noir know that she was on board.

They saw each other a few days after Chat’s initial offer. The akuma had been defeated quickly, with no need for either hero to use their special power. This was due in large part to the akumatized student’s decision to lay down and take a nap rather than use her newfound powers to wreak havoc on the city.

The two heroes leapt onto the closest building and looked at one another, neither wanting to speak first.

It was Chat who broke the silence.

“Soooo, M’lady, have you _purr_ t any thought into my _paw_ some offer?” he queried, tail flitting back and forth.

Ladybug’s rolled her eyes and glared him down, ignoring the bubbly laugh that threatened to sneak past her throat and validate the boy’s goofy sense of humor.

“As a matter of fact, I have” She paused, eyes falling to the floor as she glanced at her feet. A wave of nervousness washed over her, and Marinette could feel a warm color brush its way across her nose and cheekbones. She had no reason to be hesitant. It wasn’t as if this was a date. This was not a date. In fact, the reason she was about to agree to it was dependent on that particular detail.

Risking a look up, she decidedly ignored the way Chat’s hopeful eyes sent a pang straight to her heart and answered, “I think you’re right. I think hanging out off the clock could be fun.”

His reaction was immediate. “This is great! I have it all planned out! M’lady, I swear you won’t regret this. We are going to have the time of our nine lives.”

He paused to wiggle his eyebrows and puff out his chest in self-appreciation of his joke before continuing on, “Do you know that park we’ve fought at a few times? The one we tried to lure Mr. Pigeon to all that time ago?”

Ladybug nodded, a smile taking over her face in response to Chat’s bright eyes and joyful tone.

“We could meet up there,” Chat suggested, “at-or, whenever works for you.”

“I’m free at 12:00 tomorrow, since it’s a Saturday.”

“Perfect! I know a great place to grab a bite near there, and it shouldn’t be too hard to spot each other if we’re wearing ridiculous disguises,” he offered, “It’s going to be amazing Bugaboo, almost as amazing as you,” he flirted, causing Ladybug to smack his shoulder as a way from distracting him (and herself) from how flustered the comment left her.

Having solidified the plan, Chat Noir took off, leaving Ladybug alone on the rooftop.

She lay a hand on her chest, surprised by her racing heartbeat.

 _This is normal_ , she told herself, _I’m just excited about hanging out with my friend_.

A picture of Chat Noir flashed into her mind, his boyish smile, the sheer goofiness he radiated from every pore, and his steadfast loyalty. She would never let him know just how much she was looking forward to spending time with him. He would never know the giddy effect he had on her.

She shook her head, snapping back to reality. She would not become some type of fangirl, swooning over the elusive Chat Noir. She was in love with someone else, someone kind and selfless and generous. This outing was not a date, and Marinette was determined for it not to sway her from her immovable love for Adrien.

Just the thought of Adrien, the thought of him offering her his umbrella or catching her when she inevitably fell down the stairs of the collegé, was enough to deter her from the dangerous line of thought she was embarking upon. There would only ever be room in her heart for one boy, and that boy was not Chat Noir.

(Yet as she swung off into the night, her racing heart continued to say otherwise)

\---------

“You look ridiculous.”

“Gee Plagg, thanks for the support,” Adrien responded, giving a side-eye to the kwami in question.

Plagg, either not noticing or not caring, continued, “I mean, you always look ridiculous, but this really takes the cake.”

Adrien frowned, looking over his choice of outfit in the mirror. Was it too much? The black slacks and a black button up shirt he wore would have looked good onere their own, but were greatly overshadowed by his attempts at disguising his identity.

The upper half of his torso and his neck were obscured by a big green scarf he made after snatching some fabric on a modelling job. The material was fraying and bound to fall apart without being properly hemmed, but it would do for the day. 

The look was completed by a black snapback pulled low over his eyes and a pair of big sunglasses with paw prints in the upper corners of the frames.

His eyes glanced over the whole get together in the mirror, arm reaching out to rub behind his neck.

Plagg’s ears perked up as he watched his chosen spend a little too much time looking over his outfit in the mirror. He should probably let the kid catch a break: “I do also think everything other that camembert looks ridiculous, kid, so you never know, she might find you endearing.”

“Aw Plagg, you do care,” Adrien grinned.

He checked the clock. _11:00_. Only one more hour. Deciding it couldn’t hurt to be early, Adrien headed out, being cautious as he left his home so as not to alert his father of his current fashion disaster status. Plagg flew close behind, flying into the pocket of Adrien’s slacks once the two got outside.

By the time he reached the park, Adrien couldn’t keep still. He was bouncing up and down on the tips of his toes and glancing all over the place for a sign of Ladybug. 

He circled the park, taking in the children playing on the carousel and the various teenagers sitting on blankets and benches throughout the area. The sun shone bright rays of light on everything, creating a picture of a perfect day.

He breathed in the air, closing his eyes to let the moment sink in, before a large lump of _something_ ran right into him and pushed both of them to the floor.

Opening his eyes, relieved to find his disguise still intact, he looked up at the face peering down on top of him. It was a girl, wincing at the compromising position she had put them in. She wore a red t-shirt and black jeans, with a black sun hat covering the top layer of her face and a pair of red cat eye sunglasses obscuring the rest.

“I am so sorry! I was running late, and I’m supposed to meet my friend, and I guess I’m just super nervous because I’m super excited to spend time with him, but don’t tell him that or I’ll never hear the end of it, and now I’ve gone and run right into you, and now I’m rambling, and oh I’m just so sorry about all this,” she rushed, as a loose strand of dark hair made its way from under the hat out into the open air.

“M’Lady?” Chat questioned, watching in glee as the girl in question widened her eyes and scrambled up to standing.

“Chat?” she started, “Is that really you?”

Chat stood up, holding his arms wide before bringing them in and bowing, “‘tis me, LB, the one and only Chat Noir.”

“Oh please with the theatrics. I still can’t believe I’m doing this.” Ladybug responded, fiddling with her hands in front of her.

“Oh really? Because I seem to remember someone saying how she was _super excited to spend time with me_ ,” Chat smirked, pushing further, “not that I’m surprised. I am pretty great, if I do say so myself.”

Ladybug glared Chat down at his over-the-top antics. Even though he was momentarily terrified for his life, Chat couldn’t help but take a moment to take in her powerful stance and focused attention. Even in civilian clothing, there was no way this fiery presence in front of him could be anyone _but_ Ladybug.

He found it difficult to breathe as he watched her bare arms and hands sway back and forth at her sides, unobscured by a tough red suit.

His eyes tracked her right hand as it reached up and grabbed onto his own left hand, fingers entwining with slow hesitance.

“Come on! Let’s go check out the carousel!” she beamed, and Chat realized how foolish he had been to admire the brightness of the sun when a far greater source of light was now only two feet away.

She pulled them over to the ride, not a care in the world about the fact that the ride was geared towards younger children.

Chat Noir clenched the hand Ladybug wasn’t holding, sweat pooling at the back of his neck. He was not going to make this weird. He was going to function like a perfectly normal human being. He was not going to freak out about the feeling of her soft hand gripping his. He was not going to freak out about Ladybug pulling him into one of the carousel’s benches so they could sit together. He was not going to freak out, period. This was just a normal outing between friends. It didn’t matter that his entire face felt hot, and he wanted nothing more than to squeeze Ladybug’s hand. It wasn’t like this was a date. This was not a date.

The ride started and he saw Ladybug perk up with a childlike enthusiasm he never got to see in the midst of a battle.

A grin split her face, and she leaned over to say, “I used to ride this carousel all the time when I was a kid. I mean, I’m still technically a kid, but that was-you know what I mean.”

“I get it. When I was much smaller, I used to tie a blanket around my neck and run around the house pretending I was a superhero,” Chat offered, lowering his voice as a wave of shyness washed over him. He never really talked about his childhood, but with Ladybug he felt safe enough to continue, safe enough to be vulnerable in the presence of a friend, “little me had no idea he was getting in some vital practice for saving the day.”

Ladybug giggled, the rim of her hat bouncing up and down in rhythm with her movements. “That’s adorable! I keep picturing a little Chat running around with a blanket swooping out behind him! Imagine if your younger self could see you now”

“He would have absolutely lost his mind!”

“Hmmmmm, are you sure he that he didn’t?” she teased, waiting for Chat to realize what she was implying.

“Hey!” he shot back, glad that his glasses could hide some of the blush making its way across his cheekbones, “Just two seconds ago you were calling me adorable! Let’s go back to that,” he went on, “and M’Lady I can assure you that my mind is just as sharp as my jawline.”

She leaned in closer, as if trying to see for herself, before finally letting go of Chat’s hand and instead feeling the fabric wrapped around Chat’s neck. “Maybe I could see that jawline if you weren’t swaddled in so much loose fabric. Where did you even find this?”

Chat sputtered at her proximity, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation for the fabric that didn’t involve the fact that he was the most famous model in Paris, “Um . . . well . . . you see, I found, or I didn’t find-I took-er . . . “

“Oh my god did you STEAL this?” she exclaimed, drawing a few glances from parents in the area.

“What! No! I would never,” he panicked, his honor on the line.

“Okay, it’s okay, I trust you,” she comforted, “but you do realize that tying some loose fabric around yourself doesn’t automatically make a scarf, right?”

Chat Noir watched in wonder as the girl in front of him went off on a tangent, speaking clearly and eloquently about the ins and outs of creating a scarf. She talked about the different types of scarves, she talked about the amount of effort one had to put in to make a scarf, and she even gave a little bit of history on the origin of scarves.

The lights of the carousel reflected in her glasses, mimicking the gleam Chat knew her eyes held in that moment.

He drank in any information he could, beyond grateful to Ladybug for sharing a part of herself she was passionate about.

The ride slowed to a stop, and the two got off, walking idly around the park.

Chat was about to suggest what to do next when the sound of Ladybug’s stomach grumbling filled the air.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” she laughed, “I didn’t have a chance to grab breakfast.”

Chat internally smacked himself for forgetting about food. The excitement of the day had washed away that detail of their plans entirely. He took a deep breath to calm himself before remembering where he was and grinning as an idea took shape.

“Don’t worry, I know the perfect place to grab a bite,” he suggested, “in fact, we are within walking distance to the greatest bakery in all of Paris!”

Marinette looked on in horror as the boy gestured directly towards the Dupain-Cheng’s.

**Author's Note:**

> Major thank you/shout out to [CaughtFeelings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaughtFeelings/pseuds/CaughtFeelings) and [ScarletRedFox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletRedfox/pseuds/ScarletRedfox) for reading this over for me. Y’all are amazing!  
> If you want to chat, you can find me on tumblr at [maybehesclawstrophobic](https://maybehesclawstrophobic.tumblr.com/) or [youreusingourmadeupnames](https://youreusingourmadeupnames.tumblr.com/).  
> Have a nice day!


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